EU: Unilateral and uncoordinated decision to close the branches of the Post of Serbia in the north

The European Union has called the decision of the Kosovo authorities to close nine branches of the Post of Serbia, in the north of Kosovo, unilateral and uncoordinated. According to the EU, such an action violates the dialogue between the two countries, which is mediated by the European Union.

"Unilateral and uncoordinated actions cannot provide solutions for this and other issues that belong to the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia. The closure of existing services for Kosovo Serbs, without an agreement reached in advance, will negatively affect the daily life and living conditions of this community", the European bloc said in a statement.

The EU has called on the Government of Kosovo to reconsider this decision and find a negotiated solution within the dialogue.

The bloc recalled that within the framework of the agreements reached on telecommunications, in 2013 and 2015, the two parties agreed that postal services would be discussed "at a later stage", and thus, according to the EU, it was understood that this issue could to be addressed only through dialogue.

Kosovo and Serbia have been in dialogue for the normalization of relations, under the mediation of the European Union, since 2011.

The parties have signed a number of agreements, but not all have been implemented.

The Kosovo Police said on Monday that they closed three branches of the Post of Serbia in North Mitrovica, three in Leposavic, two in Zveçan and one in Zubin Potok.

Its officials have said that they started the police action after receiving information from the Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP) that economic operators are operating in the territory of Kosovo without a license and who are not registered with the Agency for Business Registration in Kosovo. (ARBK).

The Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP) is a regulatory body in the field of electronic communications and the postal service, which oversees the regulatory framework defined by the law on electronic communications, the law on the postal service and development policies.

The closure of the facilities has been condemned by the officials of the Post of Serbia, the Serbian List, and the state institutions of Serbia.

The Acting Director of the Post of Serbia, Zoran Angjellkovic, has claimed that the Post "offers services in accordance with all regulations in force", and that the police action in the north of Kosovo has continued the "systematic terror" in municipalities with a Serbian majority. .

Angjellkovic has pledged that all the necessary steps will be taken so that the Post Office continues to serve the citizens of Kosovo.

The Post of Serbia in Kosovo makes various payments to Serbs in Kosovo, from the funds allocated by the Serbian Government for them, including: salaries, child allowances and pensions.

Also, through the Post of Serbia, various payments are made in Kosovo for the services that citizens receive from parallel institutions, which operate according to the Serbian system, for example, payments for issuing Serbian documents, payments for exams, money transfers, etc. .

The work of the Post Office has been made difficult since the beginning of this year, due to a decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK), which has made the euro the only currency for cash payments.

Thus, the use of the Serbian dinar has been banned.

Serbia claims to distribute aid worth millions of euros to Serbian residents in Kosovo. The international mechanism criticized the Kosovo authorities for taking this decision that affects the dinar, saying that they have not offered enough alternatives for the local Serbs./REL